It was after around fifteen minutes that Eddie finally found Hazel, who was standing like a statue while staring at the castle in the far distance.
Relief washed over him as he heaved a deep sigh, closing his eyes and placing a hand over his chest. "Why were you left behind? You scared me," accusation filled his eyes as he walked up to her to see what she was so engrossed in.
Hazel merely looked at him, then straightened her back and started walking to the direction where he just came from. "You were walking too fast."
"..."
Eddie was dumbfounded.
He rushed forward and walked beside her. "I was just telling you how I prefer getting inside the palace through the back and how master Finley insisted on the front when I noticed you weren't behind me," he explained as he stole a glance at Hazel, only to be met by her mesmerising face. His gleaming eyes didn't catch the eye patch hiding the ugly scars and he only saw how beautiful she was.
Realising he was staring at her face a little too long, Hazel's lips twitched with annoyance then she decided to shift the topic. "Why is that?" She asked flatly.
'Why is what?' Eddie wondered, then simply decided to answer both questions because she didn't care to specify.
"If we go in through the front gates, we can easily be recognised because there are a lot of people, but if we use the back, no one will pay attention to us because everyone's attention will be on the tournament, that way, it wouldn't be easy to recognise our faces later on."
Hazel was quiet for a second, her eyes unreadable, then she said, "But if we go in through the back, our singled out presence will be very suspicious, don't you think?"
Eddie's eyebrows furrowed as he considered her words for a moment. His first response was to disagree with her, but then something clicked in his mind and his whole face brightened up. His eyes widened with excitement and a wide smile curved his lips.
"You're so smart!" He finally exclaimed with a shake of his head, seemingly not finding a better compliment. "No wonder master says you're not a student. You're on par with him when it comes to intelligence," he observed with a proud smile, which made Hazel's mouth twitch again as she tried to bite back a smile.
The compliment seemed so sincere and made her feel good, but Eddie's expressions were also very comical, making her want to laugh.
The two only walked for a short distance until the view of the castle was shortened completely, and Hazel realized that the castle was much bigger and more beautiful up close.
The path they used merged with the main road and they soon merged with the large crowd that was heading to the palace's entrance.
As they squeezed themselves among the countless people, Hazel felt a tight grip on her wrist and her defense skills instantly kicked in. Her senses became alert and she was prepared to attack, but when she looked back, she was slightly taken aback to see Eddie's anxious gaze.
Sensing her strange look, Eddie coughed lightly. "It is easy to get lost with the number of people going in so we should stick together," he explained himself. Hazel remained skeptical, but she detected a twinge of nervousness that he was trying to hide so she let him hold her hand. It felt strange and uncomfortable, but she tried to ignore it.
Before reaching the main road, Hazel had voiced out her concerns regarding the weapons they were carrying but Eddie brushed her off, saying that it was completely normal.
Hazel couldn't understand his theory until she looked around in the mass people and found different kinds of weapons. Some even wore armours and had swords hanging around their waists, but no one payed attention to them. Some carried arrows like herself, and others even carried spyglasses like Eddie. He was right. It was not unusual.
They slowly advanced closer and closer to the gate where men with intimidating robust frames stood guard. Hazel had already untied her head wrap and let her hair down so while she walked, she seemed like any other young woman. The only thing noticeable about her was the ugly scar on her right eye.
She received curious glances from some of the people around her, but their gazes didn't last too long because everyone was excited about being in the palace. It was a rare chance to be in the presence of royalty and people had something to look forward to.
Throughout the long walk, neither Hazel nor Eddie uttered a word. Eddie's grip on her wrist remained tight but with her inner turmoil, Hazel barely noticed it.
Just as they passed the front entrance, there was a commotion at the gate.
The place fell dead silent for a second as a carriage slowly drove in. The people instinctively gave way for the intricately polished and designed royal carriage.
Hazel instinctively looked back like everyone else and her eyebrows slightly rose as she caught sight of the royal carriage.
It was decorated in red and gold as four, strong, white horses pulled the vehicle in motion. The top of the carriage had small towers, the left front one holding a flag that Hazel couldn't see clearly with the number of people in front of her.
The entrance to the palace was filled to the brim and hazel could barely see anything, but the commotion still caught her attention and she craned her neck to get a view of royalty.
"The prince is here," Eddie thoughtfully informed.
"Which prince?" Hazel asked absentmindedly as the noises in the crowd grew louder and louder.
Eddie was quiet for a second, his brows furrowed deeply. His talk height allowed him to have a clear view of the royal carriage without much struggle. "Both princes," he said to Hazel.
Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Sebastian sat across his elder brother, his eyes roaming across the crowd to find someone. Leo noticed this and looked at him curiously, wondering who his brother was so eager to see.
Noticing his brother's curious gaze, Sebastian turned to him with a frown. "What?" He snapped in annoyance, making Leo even more curious.
"Nothing," he murmured in response, inwardly deciding to keep an eye on his brother to find out what he was up to. They had a close relationship since they were young and shared almost everything so it was a bit strange for Leo to feel that Sebastian was keeping something from him.
On a normal case, Leo would be the most likely to be keeping secrets because that was just part of hie personality. He was cold and aloof and rarely trusted anyone, whereas Sebastian was the complete opposite. He was funny and talkative and most people preferred his company more.
Just as he was deep in thought and absentmindedly staring out the window, Leo caught sight of a head full of black, slightly curly hair. He continued staring on with a slight furrow in his brows, then he remembered where he had seen that familiar head and he abruptly looked back.
Startled by Leo's abrupt head turn, a frown marred Sebastian's forehead and he looked at his brother in confusion.
Leo's eyes frantically searched the crowd, but it all seemed like an illusion. Every head seemed similar to the last, except the difference in hair colour. Besides, there were too many women with that kind of hair so perhaps it was just his imagination.
But a niggling feeling at the back of his mind told him that it was the cunning woman who had stolen from him and outran him and his men twice.
"What is wrong?" Sebastian asked in concern and Leo turned to him, his brows still deeply furrowed.
"I just thought I saw someone familiar," he said in a whisper.
Sebastian regarded him with a curious look, the his lips slanted downwards as he smiled mischievously. "I didn't know you were also courting someone," he raised his eyebrows playfully.
Also?
"No! I'm not courting anyone! I thought I saw the woman who robbed me in Hawksley," Leo explained, his voice slightly raised in annoyance.
"Oh…"
Sebastian's smile froze and his eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed skeptically. "Really? Would she be that daring to come to the palace? Or did she not know that you are a prince?"
Leo didn't answer any of the questions and only turned his head towards the window again, deep in thought. He hoped the woman was really in the palace because he would search for her and teach her a lesson.